Refrigerated display counter



Oct. 18, 1960 J. B. REPLOGLE 2,956,420

REFRIGERATED DISPLAY 0011mm Filed June 23, 1958 1 NVENT OR.

. wvm'saflipzoazi BY fiee reeankre Arroewers United States Patent OStock Yard and Transit Company of Chicago, Chicago, 11]., a corporationof Illinois Filed June 23, 1958, Ser. No. 743,562

'3 Claims. (Cl. 62-256) My invention relates to improvements inrefrigerated display counter and has for one object to provide a methodand apparatus whereby foodstuffs may be maintained in cold or frozencondition in a display counter, open to the room in which the customerstands whereby the customer may help herself from the display counter.

Cold air is heavier than the warm ambient room air and so if thefoodstufis are displayed in a counter having walls extendingsufficiently above the level of the foodstuffs a bath of cold air may bemaintained in the area between the walls and above the foodstuffs sothat chilled or even frozen foodstuffs may be visible to the customerand may be easily taken out of the counter by the customer.

One important difliculty that faces such an apparatus is that theceiling of the room, other fixtures and furniture are all warm, muchwarmer than the goods on display and while the goods are exposed to acold air bath, they are also exposed to and receive a substantialquantity of radiant lTeat from the surrounding area.

It is essential also that the customer be given a substantial angle ofvision, looking into the counter or purchase will not result.

I propose to provide over the open counter an opaque cover which will beso disposed as to leave an ample opening above the walls of the counterfor customer vision and help herself. This cover will be spaced abovethe display, may be generally horizontal or if desired, slightlyupwardly inclined toward the customer and will mask a substantial partof, if not all of, the area above the display, leaving an openinggenerally above the front wall of the counter for access.

This cover will support a cold surface of any suitable type, thetemperature of which will be preferably substantially below thetemperature of the display so that when radiant heat enters and contactsthe display, such radiant heat will be deflected therefrom or radiatedtherefrom to the cover. Thus, the cover will tend to pass from thedisplayed goods on the counter some of the radiant heat which otherwisewould have to be taken care of by the cold air in the cold air bath.

My invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure l is a front elevation;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specificationand drawings.

A counter has a front wall 1, a back wall 2, a bottom wall 3 and adisplay shelf 4 between the front and back walls and above the bottomwall 3. This shelf carries foodstuffs as indicated at 5, preferablyupwardly, rearwardly inclined so that the customer looking over the wall1 may inspect the goods on display and if desired, reach in above thewall 1 to take them out.

The walls 1, 2 and 3 are hollow. At 6 is shown diagrammatically acooling means which discharges cold air in the direction of the arrowsfor discharge at the "ice 2 lower edge of the display at 7. An airimpervious floor below the shelf 4 insures that as the air rises intempas ure i trav rw d yl ath display f di sbarsaat? i t me low wa 2 o eu n t i Thus there is a continuous stream of cold air. It may well becold, supersaturated air. It may be below freezing or above but in anyevent, it will always be far below the temperature of the ambient air inthe room in which the counter is located. The wall 2 is extendedupwardly above the display shelf 4 to carry a canopy 10. This canopy maycontain a series of cold coils 11 forming a cold surface on theunderside of the canopy. The cold coils may be cooled perhaps to -20degrees F. or any other very low temperature, the cooling means beingnot illustrated except that the coolant may enter and leave through theducts 12 and 13. The canopy extends out substantially to the line of thewall 1. Thus the customer may see and reach into the space between thecanopy and the display. Radiant heat from above cannot reach the displaybecause the canopy makes that impossible. Radiant heat from the side mayreach the display in the general direction of the arrow 14 but since thedisplay is much warmer than the underside of the canopy, heat reachingthe display by radiation along the arrow 14 will be returned byradiation to the cold canopy because it is an established fact thatradiation goes from hot to the cold, the room and its contents beingmuch hotter than the display, heat radiates to the display. The displaybeing much hotter than the canopy, heat radiates to the canopy. Thus,there is a continuous flow of heat radiated from the room to the displayand from the display to the canopy.

The cold coils may be insulated by transparent insulation -16, such ashermetically sealed, spaced apart sheets of glass so that condensationwill not form to interfere with heat radiation from the foodstuffs ondisplay to the canopy.

The cold canopy thus serves in a real sense as a radiation sink intowhich radiant heat will flow to be disposed of so that the foodstuffswill not be warmed.

I claim:

1. In a display counter, a housing open at the top, a shelf mounted insaid housing below the top thereof, refrigerating means associated withsaid housing for circulating cold air along said shelf, a supportextending above the top of said housing, said refrigerating meansmounted on said support, and being at a lower temperature than saidshelf and positioned so heat energy in said shelf may radiate thereto, amaterial substantially transparent to radiant energy mounted on saidsupport in spaced relation to the refrigerating means thereon, saidmaterial enclosing said refrigerating means on said support to provide adead air space between said portion of said refrigerating means and saidmaterial so that condensation will not form and freeze on therefrigerating means on said support to interfere with the heat radiationfrom said shell.

2. In a display counter, a housing open at the top, a shelf mounted insaid housing below the top thereof, means associated with said housingfor circulating cold air along said shelf, a canopy mounted on saidhousing completely covering and substantially above said shelf to permitaccess thereto and to substantially decrease heat radiation from theceiling and walls of the room in which the display counter is placed tosaid shelf, said refrigerating means mounted on said canopy, and beingat a lower temperature than said shelf and facing said shelf so thatheat energy in said shelf may radiate thereto, a material substantiallytransparent to radiant energy mounted on said canopy in spaced relationto the refrigerating means thereon, said material enclosing saidrefrigerating means on said canopy to provide a.

dead air space between the refrigerating means on said in inspecting anyrefrigerated merchandise on said shelf References Cited in theme of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Haschke Mar. 9, 1937 Hill July 9, 4940Webster June 3, 1941 Shreve Nov. 7, 1950 Schmid n,- IHIY 13, 1954

